As a graduate student in education you learn about knowledge transfer. The idea that transferring what you learn in one context into another is a challenge. For instance, a formula students learn in Math class isn't used to solve a similar problem in Science. Not all minds make the connection.
In education and schools across the country we have the same difficulty with Social Media. We're not solving in-class problems with the same tools as we do outside. This can be a detriment.
Look at recent examples of Social Media helping people share important messages. A man named his daughter 'Facebook' after the role it played in the revolution in Egypt to oust President Hosni Mubarak. A missing college student was found in Malaysia using Facebook and Twitter. An Internet criminal was arrested thanks to some creative Twitter users. President Barak Obama is well known for using Social Media to persuade voters and raise campaign funds. These are real solutions to real world problems using real Social Media tools.
Yet, we ban these same tools in the classroom. Administrators are worried that they'll cause problems and people will get hurt. Yet, others around the world are using Social Media to keep themselves from getting hurt, being oppressed, and expressing free speech. What are we teaching students when we don't let them use the tools around them to learn? When they're use to using Social Media to communicate with one another, coordinate events, share thoughts and feelings, and exchange ideas and files, but we don't allow it in schools, we perpetuate the knowledge transfer problem.
The thing we learn to change in graduate school, is the very same thing we encourage in schools. We want students to make connections, to fix problems, and work with one another to get it all done. Yet, we ban Social Media, push standardized tests, and separate the real world from the classroom.
Social Media needs to be THE tool to change this. Teachers need the freedom to use technology to connect their classroom with the outside world. Administrators need to use Social Media to connect with other administrators to find out what works at other schools and share new ideas with teachers. Parents need the opportunity to plug in with schools and find out what's happening and how they can continue teaching after school is over and kids come home. Policy makers need to join in on the Social Media conversation to hear what educators are doing and give them the support and tools they need to foster the 21st century learning that's desperately needed. Policy makers also need to get out of the way, and not pass more restrictions, but let up on policy and open up dialogue. And most of all, students need the chance to use the tools they're accustomed to using outside the classroom while they're in it.
For information and resources on how and why to use Social Media in the Classroom, visit these websites and follow these great teachers and administrators as they fight for the good side of technology:
- Eric Sheninger
- J. Robinson
- Diane Ravitch
- Steven W. Anderson
- Tom Whitby
To see another list of top educators using Social Media, see this list.
